Who: Ian Jones
Age: 37
Job: Owner/operator of Canopy Tree Care; competitive tree climber
Experience: When Ian Jones began attending tree-climbing competitions in 2005, he simply wanted to meet the continuing education requirements for his arborist certification. He explains that he could either read books to earn his credits or take part in the competitions. Jones gravitated toward the latter.
Tree-climbing competitions are comprised of different challenges that reflect scenarios an arborist would encounter in the field. Though speed is a major factor, safety is the primary criterion. Jones competed in regional championships three times, finally taking first place in 2014 in Saskatoon.
Winning the regional competition meant that Jones would be attending the International Society of Arboriculture‘s International Tree Climbing Championship in Tampa, Fla., this past March. More than 50 arborists from across the globe converged to compete, connect and discuss new arborist equipment. Jones placed 31st overall, but came home to Edmonton with his eyes set on the next regional competition.
“When I approach a tree that I need to climb, the first thing I do is a full tree assessment. I look for hazards in the tree, like broken branches. Then I’m looking around the tree for hazards like power lines. From there, I put together a full work plan outlining how I’m going to take down the tree and ultimately keep full awareness of everything going on around the tree.
“Every tree is different, so you need to approach climbing each tree differently. A spruce tree has a strong central core and so you can tie yourself to almost any branch and brace yourself against the centre for support. Poplars, on the other hand, are wide-spreading and grow very quickly and are extremely prone to breakage, so you want to tie yourself to larger branches.
“One of the competition’s challenges, the aerial rescue, creates a hypothetical situation where a climber in a tree gets hurt and it’s your job to get them out of the tree safely. In that situation, you call 9-1-1, you do a tree assessment and you keep talking to the guy in the tree. Then, you climb into the tree and get the guy down. Paramedics don’t have high-angle rescue training. Firemen don’t have tree-climbing training. So we need to make sure these incidents are resolved safely.